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Curly Girl Techniques

Thank you so much for all the love for my first post What is the Curly Girl Method? I’ve been on my curly hair journey since May 2017, and I wanted to share this post on understanding curly girl techniques so you know your plop from your pineapple and how to best enhance and maximise your curls whilst also reducing frizz. Like most people starting something new, I looked at lots of websites and forums to try and learn as much as possible. There were loads of terms and acronyms that I knew nothing about, or how to even begin understanding. So in this post, I’m going to explain and talk about them. To help you understand the lingo, and get to grips with the techniques so you can continue on your curly hair journey, feeling more confident and knowledgeable.

Co-Wash

This is mentioned a lot in curly girl chats. It’s even creeping into mainstream hair products. Kerastase and Aveda both have co-washes in their hair care lines. It means a conditioning wash, or using a conditioner – in place of shampoo – to wash your hair. Things have evolved a little, as conditioners can feel heavy and greasy, especially on fine hair. So the co-wash was born. To be CG-approved, they should be sulfate and silicone free. Kerastase Cleansing Conditioner left so much build up in my roots, it took a clarifying wash using a shampoo loaded with sulfates to get my hair (and scalp!) properly clean again. Aveda Be Curly Co-Wash wasn’t moisturising enough for me. My absolute favourite co-wash is the As I Am Coconut Co-Wash. If you’re a member of any of the CG Facebook groups I’m in, you’ve seen me recommend this countless times! I’ve got a dedicated review of this product coming soon, so make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it. I also talk a little more about co-washing in this post.

SOTC

This one baffled me in the beginning! It means Scrunch Out The Crunch. Which can still leave people guessing. Almost every curly girl has experienced crunchy, or crispy hair. Mousse and gels are the culprits, as they create a “cast” on the hair. Which is good, you want that! This is my hair, fully dry before I’ve scrunched out the crunch. I used Pantene Defined Curls Mousse, and Umberto Giannini Curl Jelly.

What I didn’t realise was that you’re supposed to break that cast, to reveal your soft, bouncy curls underneath. Think of it like applying fake tan. Applying it is only part of the process, you’ve got to wash off the guide colour to reveal the golden tan underneath. Same with applying your hair products.

Look at the difference in volume and texture after I SOTC. I use my hands, some people use a light oil like jojoba or grape seed or even KY Jelly (yes, lube!) as it’s great for fighting frizz.

I’ve used Pantene Defined Curls Mousse for years and years, long before I discovered the curly girl method (CGM). On my wash days, I would always have crunchy, crispy hair – which I hated! It wasn’t until the next day that my real curls would make an appearance. After the cast and crunch had been scrunched out during the night as I slept. Now I do it once my hair is fully dry and I don’t have to wait a day to have gorgeous curls.

Top Tip: If you wash your hair in the morning and have a date or event on in the evening, leave your cast in for as long as possible before SOTC. This will protect and preserve your curls for longer.

Pineapple

“What on earth does a pineapple have to do with curly hair?!” I thought the exact same thing. Think of those cute little toddlers walking around with a tiny ponytail right on the top of their head. It looks just like a pineapple right? Well, putting your curly hair in a pineapple is one of the ways to protect your hair at night while you sleep. Or naps – I love a good nap during the day. Don’t mistake this for a top knot. The pineapple is much looser, to protect your curls, and less twisting into a knot.

Top Tip: Always SOTC before putting your hair in a pineapple, especially before bed. I’ve tried leaving my hair in a cast and putting it in a pineapple before bed only to wake up the next morning and my hair is a hot mess!

If you’re hair is shorter, you might not be able to gather all the pieces of your hair at the back of your head into your pineapple – that’s okay. If you’re hair is longer, like mine; don’t pull it all the way through your hair tie. Keep as much hair as possible on the top of your head. Pineappling is my favourite time of the day! It means it’s time to wash my face and do my night time skincare routine, and bed time isn’t far away. Here’s how to do it, and you’re only going to loop the hair tie once or twice at most – it shouldn’t be tight.

Plopping

This one is worse than the pineapple! My mum has asked me a few times what on earth I’m doing with “that thing” on my head. I always reply (to her horror) that I’m plopping! Make sure you use a cotton t-shirt or microfibre towel to “plop.” My favourite curl towel is the Bouclème 100% cotton jersey towel. Although I don’t really like microfibre towels, as I find they cause frizz for me, the best one, in my opinion, is the DevaCurl microfibre towel. The DevaCurl one is cheaper, but only available in USA. The Boucléme one is more expensive, but comes free with their Luxe Kits – I bought the Summer Saviours one. Alternatively, you can use a cotton t-shirt.

The art of plopping – indulge me here; let’s at least try to make it sound glamorous! Lay the towel/t-shirt on the bed, usually below waist height helps – especially if you’ve got a bad back. Flip your hair over, grabbing it in the same way you would start your pineapple. “Plop” your hair onto the middle of the towel, with your forehead nearest the edge. Fold over the remaining towel or t-shirt over the back of your head, and tie with the sides to secure. If you’re using a t-shirt, use the sleeves to tie it. After I’ve applied my products to my soaking wet hair, I diffuse for about five minutes until my hair is damp, or about 60-70% dry. Then I plop, leaving it on for 20-30 minutes before taking my hair out to air dry.

Plopping really helps curl pattern and formation. I always scrunch until my fingers feel like they’re going to fall off just before I plop. This is to get as much curl into my hair as possible. As you can see from this image, it ain’t pretty or flattering. But the curls afterwards are worth it! Some people plop overnight, after washing their hair, to preserve curl pattern and formation, and partly dry it. But you nearly always have to air dry or do a quick diffuse afterwards. I have high porosity hair, which takes ages to dry. Which is why I don’t plop over night, and why I diffuse before plopping.

Caution: Going to bed with wet hair increases the risk of hygral fatigue which can leave your hair limp and fluffy to the point where it’s almost mushy and can’t hold a curl. I don’t recommend going to bed with your wet hair in a plop, and certainly not with a deep conditioning treatment in.

Rake & Shake

I feel like this post is getting more ridiculous with each title! Raking is a technique to de-tangle curly hair in the shower, and distribute products through your hair. I use my fingers to rake through my hair during the shower when I apply my conditioner and any deep conditioning products. Some people like to use the same raking method to distribute their styling products too. And then “shake” their hair to encourage curl pattern and formation. This is done by holding the ends of your hair in sections, and shaking it up to the root. Personally, I’m not a fan of this method as it pulls out my curls.

Top Tip: If you want a looser curl pattern, more like beachy boho waves, then use the Rake & Shake method either with your fingers, or a wide tooth comb to wash and apply all your products.

Praying Hands

No, not yoga. Using praying hands to distribute hair products is a great alternative to brushing, combing or raking. Which can pull your hair, disrupting your curl pattern and formation. I use praying hands to apply all my styling products. I do one gentle sweep of praying hands from root to tip to distribute the product. Then scrunch like crazy to encourage curl formation and clumping.

Squish to Condish

If you want to get great results from the curly girl method, you need to learn the “squish to condish” technique. It’s means squishing your hair to condition it, also called “scrunching.” This is the art of scrunching your hair, primarily to encourage curl pattern and formation – which I’ve mentioned a lot in this post. It’s also used to distribute conditioner, which is concentrated at the ends and middle of the hair. Personally, I apply conditioner from about two or three inches from my root, all the way to my ends using praying hands and then a brush. I don’t rinse it out, but dangle my hair sideways, cup water in my hands and squish to rinse instead. I do the exact same technique after praying hands, and again to SOTC.

Top Tip: If you’re pushed for time, using this method is a great way to get product into the cuticles of your hair quickly. It’s also great for low porosity hair where the cuticles tend to lay flat. By pushing the product upwards, it penetrates the hair shaft more efficiently than brushing or using praying hands which uses downward motions.

Finally, Clumps

Like I’ve said, the titles in this post sound ridiculous. Anyway, clumps are curly girls’ best friends. And all of the techniques (apart from Rake & Shake) will help and encourage clumps to form. One of the reasons that brushes and combs aren’t recommended for the curly girl method, is because they separate the strands of the curls. This can result in stringy, bitty curls – the opposite of clumps. One of the reasons praying hands, squishing and scrunching is so good, is because it encourages the hair to cling and bind to itself. Thus, clumping occurs! And this is a wonderful thing as it creates big, bouncy curls, rather than stringy curls, which tend to be looser too. If you’re struggling to get curly clumps, try squeezing sections of your hair together, vertically, with your hands.

Top Tip: If your hair looks stringy and bitty after applying your products, wet your hair again with the shower head, tap or spray bottle. Just enough to wet your hair, not so much that you wash all the products out. Voila, clumps will appear! Scrunch the individual clumps a couple of times to encourage curl pattern once again, and then dry.

Wow, that was a really long post! But I really wanted to get all the techniques in one post so you can be fully up to speed. I hope you found this post helpful and you know your plop from your pineapple. Please subscribe if you haven’t already, like my Facebook page and follow me on Instagram. Comment below with any questions, what are your favourite techniques? And let me know what you’d like to see me cover/try out next.

If you’re doing many of these techniques but still struggling with halo frizz, check out this post to see what may be causing it and how to beat it.

*This post contains some affiliate links, which means I get paid (a very small) commission on products you purchase through my links. This in no way affects you, the price you pay or the way in which I write about products featured on this site. My content is not influenced by advertisers, affiliate partnerships, brands or PRs.

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Comments

Your blog posts about curls are so helpful! I have 3b curls, usually I use a heavier cream product everyday 2 days after washing because I have a lot of frizz, and just apply it lightly in a downward motion root to tip. Lately, as my hair is long, this is making me lose volume! I also moved somewhere with a very low humidity which seems to make my curls dry and flat. Any troubleshooting tips?? Anytime I try a most of these techniques – pineappling, praying hands, and sometimes even clumping my curls, they turn stringy and thin – or too separated as if I’ve brushed it.

Heavy cream products in low humidity on long hair is going to weigh your hair down and cause it to lose volume and be flat. Check out my post on how I get root volume in my curly hair to help you with that. If your curls are stringy or separated after brushing, re-wet your hair again, then scrunch, a lot. Hope that helps, Gabriella xoxo

Love this post! I’m a lot less confused now
Do you use the As I Am cowash for squish to condish or a different leave in conditioner?
I only wash my hair once to twice a week and would scrunch conditioner into my hair instead of using product anyway. Going CG for me seems to be more about changing to CG friendly products and tweaking my current Haircare methods as I do most of them anyway (phew!).
Thanks for your response on the FB page – just putting in my order for the As I Am cowash as recommended but just wondering whether to add anything for squishing at the moment!
Thanks
Nikki x

Hi Nikki, I use the As I Am Co-Wash as a “shampoo”. After rinsing that out, I apply a conditioner using the squish to condish method. Then I squish to rinse, cupping water in my hands before squishing my hair. This way I don’t wash all the conditioner out of my hair. My hair seems to prefer this to using leave-in conditioner. Hope that helps, Gabriella xoxo

Thank you so much! I will definitely do a post on deep conditioning soon! Make sure you check out my DIY Microwavable Deep Conditioning Heat Cap tutorial because that’s going to make any deep conditioner really penetrate your hair shaft and give you much better results. Gabriella xoxo

Hi Gabriella, love your posts! So good to find someone in the UK talking about products we can get here. I have fine porous hair, 2c/3a with a few ringlets thrown in. I actually use the pantene mousse and the gel you use. What amounts do you apply? I think your hair is a bit thicker than mine..thanks again, Lou

Thanks Lou, I’m glad you’re finding the posts helpful! I love the Pantene Mousse! I used to use lots of it when it was the only styling product I used. Now that I layer my hair care products though, I use less of each product if that makes sense. And yes, my hair is super thick!

You’re hair is so beautiful! I started my CG journey January 2017, my curls were popping and looking so good for about 10 months! Then I wanted to go blonde and started the process in November …. my hair is dark brown… my curls loosened up but I was ok with it because I knew bleaching my hair would loosen up my curls and I will have to baby my hair back to health. My curls kept up with me so I was happy that I didn’t ruin my curls. Last month I had a root touch up and lightened my hair even more. I think I pushed it 🙁 my hair is now in a stringy wave funk that it won’t go past it. I started protein treatments but I noticed my hair is starting to be straight! My hair is drying out and barley curling again. I know, I messed up! I’ve recently started following you and have been reading your blogs. I have naturally 2c & 3a curls but right now my hair is looking like a 2a. My hair is low porsity and the creams/stylers I used before I bleached it is now weighing my hair down. I’ve been struggling to find a new cocktail for my hair after I bleached it. This may sound silly, but would protein treatments be the cause of my hair not curling? I’ve stopped the protein treatments, I cowash and deep condition. What do you recommend to help with my hair? It doesn’t break but lately my hair has been feeling very brittle and frizzy. I haven’t found a good combo for my hair. I usually use a leave in condistioner and styled but my hair is not working with me Help!!!

Hi Monica, I don’t wet my hands to SOTC or use oil or anything else. I always diffuse my hair to dry it. I have low porosity hair so it takes hours and hours to dry if I let it hair dry. Diffusing also adds volume and helps with my curl definition. Hope that helps!

I am just about to start the CG method, but the thought of leaving conditioner in my hair scares me!! I have low porosity hair that is fine and thin. Any product that is thick or oily weighs my hair down tremendously. Is it OK to rinse all of the conditioner out and use a light spray leave in conditioner on the ends of my hair plus gel or mousse?

I’ve just started the CG method myself. I think I have low porosity hair with maybe a 2c curl. I washed my hair yesterday evening and left to dry natural and just scrunched in my leave in conditioner. Soon the curls began to form and I was happy with the result! However I am defo going to try the SOTC method with Pantene moose as I didn’t have any product to seal the curls. I was just wondering how you go about touching up your hair on the 2nd day? Do you spray with water or a leave conditioner and do you add more product on day 2? My hair doesn’t need a wash yet so just wondering what to do until it does… Rach x

Hi Rachael, your curl pattern doesn’t really matter, as that will often change when embarking on the CG journey. I have a post about that. Your hair porosity is important though, I’ve got a post on that too so be sure to check it out. My favourite and best washes are when I don’t have to refresh between washes. But if and when I do, I spray my hair with warm water, or use handfuls of warm water and scrunch it up into my hair. I then smooth and scrunch in a mixture of gel (either Boucleme Gel or Aussie Instant Freeze usually) with lube, yes KY Jelly. That’s great at reviving my curls and locking them in for frizz free curls between washes. I hope that helps. xx

What is your opinion about flaxseed gel.i love my hair with flaxseed gel but the problem is that the cast lasts only one day.is there any tip to lasts2 or 3 days..i don’t like readymade products since most of store bought products are allergic to me.

SAME! I like flaxseed gel as a curl enhancer, but it doesn’t have enough hold for me, and rarely do I get a cast. So maybe try pairing it with a gel after you’ve applied your flaxseed for more hold that will last longer….As for most ready made products causing allergic reactions. I would advise to do a bit more research into the ingredients of what products cause that reaction. For example, there are 2 ingredients that are really long and start with the letter M, also known the Itchy M’s and these can cause people to have a really itchy, sensitive scalp. So maybe you need to stay away from products that contain those ingredients…Hope that helps xoxo

Hi, sorry if I didn’t explain it properly. I only brush my hair when it’s got conditioner or a deep conditioner in it, or sometimes when I’ve got my styling products in my hair while it’s still wet to help the curls clump together. Does that make sense/help? I never ever brush my hair when it’s dry though. Never!

Great post! Thanks for sharing some specifics about the pineapple and other things… I’ve been twisting my hair up, so there’s one thing to stop doing. I’m looking forward to trying wetting my hair after applying products…I did everything right yesterday and had nice juicy clumps right out of the shower, but things went stringy with gel, so hopefully that’s the ticket for me!

okay, a couple of things. Twisting your hair up in one big bun is pulling out the natural curl pattern. I did a lot of damage to my hair by doing that! When you said your hair went stringy with gel. It may be because the gel contained protein. Too much protein can cause the hair to go stringy. Alternatively, if it’s not a protein gel, and your hair goes stringy after applying your styling product. You can either use praying hands a few times, or brush it with a Denman paddle brush to, both will encourage your hair to clump again. Hope that helps! xoxo

I just need to be reassured that I understand correctly about the order of applying gel for a cast and plopping. Do you apply the curling gel right out of the shower while hair is wet and then diffuse to dry it somewhat and THEN plop? OR is the order different from my understanding? I am new to the CGM. Glad I found you! I have a lot of long but fine, low porosity hair.

Hi Ruth, no worries. It can be very confusing, especially at the beginning! To answer your question, it depends on what works for you. I like to apply my styling products in the shower while my hair is still wet. I then let the products sit for a little bit to set. If you go straight to towel drying your hair, the towel will soak up the products you’ve just applied, instead of your hair. After 5-10 mins, I then diffuse my hair until it’s about 80% dry, and then I plop using my curl towel, or clip the roots and let it air dry the rest of the way. Once it’s FULLY DRY, only then will I scrunch out the crunch. Does that all make sense?

Are you using enough product? If it goes limp ,lifeless and loses curl defintion after a few hours, it could also be that you need to clarify, or your protein moisture balance is off and you need to do a protein treatment, see this post for more info and details, https://curlycailin.ie/protein-moisture-balance/

This is so, SO helpful and straightforward. I used to have straight hair, but my hair gets more and more curly after each baby (in sections of course, not evenly over my scalp. It is only the very front section that is still straight now), so I had absolutely no idea what to do with my new found curls. Thank you for the information and techniques!

Aww that’s so amazing Aerylin – and what a beautiful name! How do you pronounce it? My curls have never changed, not through puberty, pregnancy or after having babies. I’m glad my content has been able to help you though! xoxo

I have shorter hair that barely hits my shoulders, so I don’t know what to do for the plopping and pineapple method (God these names), will I just let the shorter parts of my hair fall out? (By the shorter parts I mean about half of my hair ;’D)

I would like to know what you use as stylers when travelling.
I know I can bring gel but not mousse and trying to figure out what to pack. Have purchased travel size Giovanni products.
Thanks love your knowledge.

Hi Jenifer, that’s actually a really great question! And I’m going to do a post on that soon, as I’m travelling in a few weeks. I either purchase travel sizes of my favourite products, or I’ll save travel sized bottles that are empty, and just refill them before I leave. For mousse, I purchase it once I’m either the other side of the security gates, or I purchase it in the country I’m travelling to. Hope that helps xoxo

Is the LOC method CG method friendly? Do you recommend using it as well? What about pre-poo? How often do I use hair mask? What about protein treatment? Is Detangler CG friendly? How often do I co-wash and pre-poo? Do I ever wash with a sulfate free shampoo for like build up? I’m sorry for all the questions. My daughter has type 3a curls and I know nothing. My hair is as flas a board and oily. She Puerto Rican and white. What do I need? Please help!

Hi Balie, if you have a look at the posts on this site, you’ll find the answers to a lot of your questions. Take a deep breath, one thing at a time. The LOC = leave in conditioner, oil and them cream. Personally I don’t use oils on my hair, so I don’t do it. I don’t pre-poo either. Use a hair mask as often as you feel your daughter’s hair needs it. Once a week, a fortnight, a month…I have a couple of posts on protein treatments: protein moisture balance, and my rice water rinse. Maybe don’t get SO caught up on what’s CG, as in techniques. By detangling, do you mean a brush or a product? Use a brush if you have to, like a paddle denman brush. Co-wash if you like, or low poo – whichever works best for your daugther’s hair. There’s a post about build up, clarifying, sulfate shampoo etc. Slow down, take a breath, start simple and take it from there. x

The funny thing is, I’ve been using a number of these methods for years without knowing there were names for them! I actually put my gel in while still in the shower, then shake it out with my fingers inserted near the roots, scrunch and then put in a microfiber turban/towel. When I take it out, I give it another shake and some scrunching and hands off until it dries crunchy (often sleeping with it pulled loosely up). Then I put some Moroccan oil on my hands and run them over my hair as if I were going to put it up in a ponytail until the curls have softened. I’m good as gold for days!

Hi Stephanie, yes I was the same. There’s lots of CG things I’ve been doing for years, I just didn’t know there was a name for them, or they were part of a particular method. I will say though, just in case you do follow the CG method, Moroccan Oil isn’t CG friendly…..

I can’t believe the idfference this made! Ever since I started the CGM I’ve had frizzy hair until right now! I washed and applied using prayer hands and scrunching, then diffues for 6 mins and plopped for 20 mins. Then I let air dry and I have almost zero Friz. Thank you!

Thank you so much for such informative post! I have been so lost trying to figure out how to take care of my daughters curls! I am so glad that I found out about these techniques now and it will help to preserve her curls. She is 5 and I can’t believe no one ever asked me if I know how to take care of her curly hair since both my husband and I have straight hair (she got my dad’s hair). I noticed that it really got out of shape lately and started researching and asking for help in mom’s groups and they told me about CG method. You have gorgeous hair by the way 🙂 Thank you!

Aww thank you so much Anna! My mum didn’t have curly hair, I got it from my dad, who wasn’t around when I was growing up. So she had no clue how to look after my curls. I have 2 curly children, and I’ve got a few highlights about how I care for my daughter’s hair on my Instagram if you want to check that out. http://www.instagram.com/curlycailin.ie

I recently stopped straightening my hair, and decided to go curly again. I have always layered my hair when I had it cut. Now that I am going natural. Or I call it wash & wear hair, i bought a curly shampoo & conditioner & then use lustig argon oil curl wave twist. After washing, conditioning and using the lusti’s, I scrunch my hair, i leave the bottom part of my hair down. Then i put the rest in a scrunchie. As it dries I repeat until it drys. I wash hair at night, then put in 2 scrunchies when I go to sleep 1 around the middle of my head the 2nd part is I take the top part of my hair into the other scrunch on top of my head [ like the pineapple. ] My hair is to my shoulders. Is this ok?

Hello! Just finding out about curly girl method. I am trying to understand what of my routine I need to change currently. Overall my hair will curl, but after day 1 of washing/styling it will get very frizzy. I think I have 3a? It is coarse, thick, and long. Low porosity.

My current method: use shampoo and then conditioner, then was towel drying a little, then applied Herbal Essence totally twisted gel, followed by HE totally twisted mousse, then air dry.

So I understand I need to change to the cowash (saw your As I Am coconut recommendation). So do that, then condition after that? With the same product or different one (if so which one)? Then no towel, but apply gel or mousse after out of shower and hair still wet? And then do the plop? My current regimen does not create a cast, which I’m guessing is why it looks awful the next day because it’s not staying in place? How do I make a cast? Just different hair product? Thanks for any help!

Hi Allison. You can use a low poo or a co wash. It just depends on what works best for your hair and what you prefer. DEFINITELY ditch the towel as that does nothing but roughen up the cuticle and cause frizz! I’ve got posts on my favourite products and how to build a curly girl routine, so definitely check out those posts for product recommendations and how to put it all together. Don’t use the As I Am Co Wash as a conditioner though. If your hair is very dry and frizzy, I would use a leave in conditioner such as Giovanni Direct Leave In, then apply mousse (the one you have is fine) and then apply gel. Leave for a few mins before diffusing, dont’ move your hair around too much until the cast has formed and it’s fully dry. Hope that helps!

Hi Gabriella,
Thanks for such an amazing website. I’m just at the very start of my CG method journey and am finding it incredibly helpful, especially as I’m in Ireland so it’s great to know which products I can order online etc. I have a question that I’m hoping you might be able to help me with please. Is it ok to use a tangle teezer to detangle my hair when I’m washing it? I usually comb out the tangles with the tangle teezer while the conditioner is in my hair. Or is there a different type of comb or brush I should use instead or just try to detangle with my fingers? Thank you, Claire

Hi Claire – fellow Irish curly, yay! Personally I’m not such a big fan of the Tangle Teezer. I would much prefer and recommend the Denman Paddle Brush – you can get it in Boots, most pharmacies or supermarkets that sell Denman brushes. But please note, it’s the ONLY Denman brush, or any kind of brush I recommend using for curly hair. You may come across some stuff in the curly community about modified Denman brushes, and I don’t find those as good, they aren’t as gentle on the hair as the padded one. Hope that helps! Gabriella x

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I take my responsibilities as a blogger and author of this site very seriously and always research and test out products before writing about them. However, what suits my skin type and curls might be terrible for yours, so please be sensible and take care when following recommendations. Always try something out in-store or ask for a free sample. If you have very sensitive skin or scalp, then be extra careful and check the ingredients list before purchasing or using on your skin, scalp or hair.